Tortoises, pizza, oh my....

[king_pappy]

Good morning everyone,
For the past 6 year I've been working at my family's pizza shop. struggling to find my way in this crazy world. I'm 20 now and have 6 beautiful tortoises and decided this is what I wanna do in my lifetime, I reside in Michigan. I eventually am looking to have a large indoor warehouse outfitted for tortoises I have gobs and gobs of drawings and other plans, But have no idea how to execute this. This is where I need your help!

The goal is to be able to accept rescues and surrenders and provide them with care and a safe environment here in Michigan until they are healthy we can find a new loving family. Along with conservation breeding programs.
I see tons of tortoise get surrendered here especially Sulcatas because once they have grown, many owners don't want them in the house in the winter.

We'd also like to offer educational services for free and allow schools to take free field trips ect. And maybe even one day have radiated tortoises here in Michigan!

As you may guess this is quite pricey to get started especially since I'm only 20.

I'm here searching for my next step, if anyone could offer anything on fundraising, raising money, knowledge, ideas.
If you have any questions or would like to talk more about the plans please start a conversation with me I'd love to share my dream with you! if anyone works with tortoises here in Michigan I'd love to get together and learn.

Thank you for time and reading this! It means a lot to me!

 

[wellington]

My best advice is to get the housing set up first. Having a bunch of tortoises that you rescued and giving very minimal room because you didn't plan ahead for enough space is not really rescuing, it's just taking from one bad situation into another.
The expensive part will be paying to heat such a large area in winter. Then if you live in an area that loses power a lot, you will need to have a back up generator.
It all can be done in Michigan, but it's not going to be a cheap adventure.

 

[Yvonne G]

You can't make a living and be able to support yourself (and your HOBBY) rescuing and rehabbing turtles and tortoises. I was an engineer for the phone company when I first started my turtle and tortoise addiction. I worked for years setting up and tuning my own collection while being employed and earning a living. '

When people started hearing about me and my collection they started calling me to see if I would take their unwanted or sick turtle, and I soon realized there was a need for a turtle rescue in my area. At the time I lived on five acres, and had plenty of room to set up quarantine pens.

I made fliers announcing my newest endeavor and passed them out to veterinarians, law enforcement, pet shops, etc. in my area. Most of the turtles and tortoises I took in were just unwanted pets with nothing wrong with them, so they were ready to find a new home. I had developed a list of names of people looking for a turtle, and when it came time to find a home for a turtle or tortoise I went by first come first served, or rather, the top name on the list. If that person was given an animal his name was crossed off.

I made an appointment with that person for me to come to their house and take a look at the place they planned to keep their new animal. I looked for safety, sun and shade areas, sturdy fencing. . . and while we walked around looking at the area I was getting a feel for this person and if they really knew what they were getting into. I never adopted to someone who wanted to keep the animal in the house.

This was started before computers and Google, so I had care sheets printed up for as many different kinds of turtles and tortoises that were common or popular at the time. Each animal I adopted out came with a care sheet.

The moral to this story is you need money to do this. You will have to buy supplies, medicine, vet visits, food, etc. None of this comes cheap. You get the occasional donation, but mostly you end up spending your own money.

Learn as much as you can about how to care for turtles and tortoises. Groom your own collection. Get your experience first before you start your business.

 

[king_pappy]

You can't make a living and be able to support yourself (and your HOBBY) rescuing and rehabbing turtles and tortoises. I was an engineer for the phone company when I first started my turtle and tortoise addiction. I worked for years setting up and tuning my own collection while being employed and earning a living. '

When people started hearing about me and my collection they started calling me to see if I would take their unwanted or sick turtle, and I soon realized there was a need for a turtle rescue in my area. At the time I lived on five acres, and had plenty of room to set up quarantine pens.

I made fliers announcing my newest endeavor and passed them out to veterinarians, law enforcement, pet shops, etc. in my area. Most of the turtles and tortoises I took in were just unwanted pets with nothing wrong with them, so they were ready to find a new home. I had developed a list of names of people looking for a turtle, and when it came time to find a home for a turtle or tortoise I went by first come first served, or rather, the top name on the list. If that person was given an animal his name was crossed off.

I made an appointment with that person for me to come to their house and take a look at the place they planned to keep their new animal. I looked for safety, sun and shade areas, sturdy fencing. . . and while we walked around looking at the area I was getting a feel for this person and if they really knew what they were getting into. I never adopted to someone who wanted to keep the animal in the house.

This was started before computers and Google, so I had care sheets printed up for as many different kinds of turtles and tortoises that were common or popular at the time. Each animal I adopted out came with a care sheet.

The moral to this story is you need money to do this. You will have to buy supplies, medicine, vet visits, food, etc. None of this comes cheap. You get the occasional donation, but mostly you end up spending your own money.

Learn as much as you can about how to care for turtles and tortoises. Groom your own collection. Get your experience first before you start your business.

While I agree with you somewhat, I find your statement of "You can't make a living and be able to support yourself (and your HOBBY) rescuing and rehabbing turtles and tortoises." Completely wrong tho. I know many people that make a living and support them self with tortoises and or other reptiles, I also have a friend that goes to fairgrounds, schools, library, colleges, and does educational shows with his reptiles and makes loads of money. While I value your input highly. I'm not in it for money I think some people tend to think that is what this is. I am solely wanting to do this for conservation and for the greater good.
Sincerely, Max

 

[Yvonne G]

I also went to fairgrounds, schools, library, colleges, and put on educational shows, but I didn't earn anything doing it. Plus it cost me gas and time to do it. And the animals I took in cost me space, food, $$ and time until I could find them a good home, and they were adopted out for free. You can't say, "give me your unwanted tortoise and I'll sell it and make a profit." People turn in their animals thinking you're going to find it a good home, not sell it and make money off it.

 

[king_pappy]

I also went to fairgrounds, schools, library, colleges, and put on educational shows, but I didn't earn anything doing it. Plus it cost me gas and time to do it. And the animals I took in cost me space, food, $$ and time until I could find them a good home, and they were adopted out for free. You can't say, "give me your unwanted tortoise and I'll sell it and make a profit." People turn in their animals thinking you're going to find it a good home, not sell it and make money off it.

I think your not understanding the mission of the project, receiving rescues and selling them ECT is nothing I even mentioned, nor is it my goal. I'm confused on what your point your trying to get across is?

 

[Yvonne G]

My point being, unless you're independently wealthy operating a turtle/tortoise rescue isn't cheap.

 

[SinLA]

I've been doing animal rescue for almost 30 years. I can't say what "makes tons of money" may mean to your 20s friends, but NO rescues make "tons of money" unless they are doing something shady. Doesn't matter the species. Unless you are quick to euthanize anything that comes in that needs vet care, rehab time/space, etc., anything that isn't a quick turn-around and a quick rescue fee, there's just no way the economics of rescue works that way. Rescue is a numbers game, eventually you take something in that cleans out all the savings you get from the quick placements. You have a finite amount of space, and eventually the ones that need long term care take up that space.

 

[Levi the Leopard]

Although I wasn't running a tortoise rescue, I have some experience to share you might be able to glean from. And I'm going to share some $ amounts to help you see my reality.

For a few years, I ran a mobile petting zoo/exotic animal educational program. I had blast and absolutely loved doing it. I had a personal collection of a variety of critters and people hired me to present jungle themed animal shows at birthday parties, schools, day cares, etc.
I wanted to "look good" from the start so we invested about $50,000 to get set up correctly from day 1. I wanted all matching or similar looking enclosures, the right type of show decor, professional tech, etc. I already had a few animals of my own but wrote out a list of what animals I still wanted for the program, species and #.
You see, when the community learns you work with animals and they see you do it well, the calls for surrenders start flowing in. I have seen people fall into accidental hoarding this way and NEVER wanted that to happen to me. So, my list along with empty prepared enclosures waiting made sure I only took what was on that list. However, I joked I was an animal broker on the side because like Yvonne, I had a list of people who wanted animals and I helped the surrenders find other homes. (this too is an expense out of pocket. People didn't pay me to take their animals, nor for my time invested in picking them up, temporarily housing them, driving them to a new home etc.)

Anyways, I started doing programs and they caught on quite well. I was the only one in my area doing it (that was licensed and insured) so the demand was high. BUT I'm just 1 person. There was only so much work I could take on. I only brought in between $5,000-$10,000 each year for the first 4 years. Perhaps if I never ate, slept, cared for my house or human kids and only worked job after job I could have made more money? LOL BUT the reality is I had to live life, too. So, I was limited on how much work I could accept.
After 4 years of running the business I still HAD NOT fully recouped my initial investment. Probably had another year perhaps 2 before I saw a profit. I was going into my 5th year of business when I fell very ill, almost died and had to close down. My medical bills were astronomical and after I thankfully survived a life saving surgery, I had 8 months of recovery ahead of me. There was no way to keep the business going. Caring for animals is expensive and time consuming. The more you have, the more $$$ and more work. I had about 30 species of critters and spent 4 hours every morning doing rounds and 1-2hours every evening. That's just feeding and cleaning, not including the time spent training, showing, working, etc.

I LITERALLY don't see how anyone can make $ solely working with animals while doing it right. It blows my mind.
My husband works full time and as he liked to say, his income funded my "hobby". It was a money pit and kept me in the red. He joked that he got a raise when I shut down. BUT I loved doing it, kids loved experiencing the animals and so we did it for the adventure, not for our income.

By all means, start your rescue. Sounds amazing! I wish you the best of luck!

You asked where to start. Well, you need a place, space and money. Lots of it. That's all we are saying. If you can make a profit doing it, cool! What's the secret? Please tell me cuz I didn't skimp on care, supplies, or food and could not have done it without another form of income. I have friend Pet Tubers who monetize their YouTube channels and make additional $ that way. But again, that's another source of income.

I have no advice for you on how to start fundraising though. Taking other people's money becomes a whole 'nother level of accountability.

Please know we are all only trying to help. Yvonne only meant the best and I think you misunderstood her.

 

[TortoisesCarolina]

Your heart is certainly in the right place, but I don't actually think it is feasible. It's going to be extremely expensive, probably more money than most of us on the forum even have combined. I really do think Yvonne and Gomberg have it right. I wish you all the luck in the world, but I doubt it can be done.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Space. Especially in Michigan. Indoor space.
I'm concerned that you're being a but unrealistic about how much room each tortoise will require. Simply collecting animals and jamming them into a space that is convenient for the keeper is not a rescue.
Case in point...I DO rescue tortoise on occasion. Just Redfoot tortoises because my climate is so perfect for them and I have a lot of experience keeping them.
My small house is on a 1/4 acre property.
My entire back yard would be on the small side for a single Sulcata. It's why I don't take them in. I'd have no more room.
My primary enclosure can comfortably hold about 5 Redfoot tortoises. I simply have no more room after that. It would be irresponsible to keep more of them in my space.
We've all seen snake collections where there are dozens or hundreds of small plastic bins on shelves, each containing a snake. Tortoises are very different. They need LOTS of space. They are also territorial and fight over space and keeping more than one species in close proximity is dangerous because of cross species pathogens.

I can not imagine how large and how expensive a warehouse (Heated) in Michigan would be.

Also, over the years I've never recovered a fraction of what those tortoises cost me. Between acquiring them. The veterinary care and housing them before trying to find them the very best forever homes, just breaking even would be great. But I probably lose at least $50 to $200 on each "rescue".
I don't have the space or the resources.
As much as I understand and admire your vision, It's not as simple as it seems. I suggest you start with a single species in mind. Focus on that species. Specialize in that species and get your toes wet before you attempt to dive in.
(The water is deeep)
Too bad you aren't in south Florida.
I'd be more than happy to help a Newby get started out.

 

[Levi the Leopard]

get your toes wet before you attempt to dive in.
(The water is deeep)

100%

 

[enchilada]

theres no $$ in rescuing reptiles.... but some cats and dogs "rescue" are extremely profitable